Samsung vs. Apple (round 2)

Source - http://www.redmondpie.com/samsung-takes-a-swipe-at-iphone-5-with-their-new-print-ad-for-galaxy-s-iii/

It seems as if Samsung want some payback since the very controversial lawsuit that was settled between themselves and Apple, of which Apple won one billion USD. Here is an ad poster by Samsung comparing its latest top-of-range smartphone the Galaxy S III to the rectly released iphone 5. The whole point of the poster was to steal the spotlight from Apple when they released the iPhone 5 brand new. The strapline "The next big thing is already here" is clearly a gibe at Apple's new smartphone. The main heading "it doesn't take a genius"  is indicating that it doesn't take a genies to figure out which is better with the longer list of features listed under the Samsuge Galaxy III compared to the iPhonhe 5. From a design perpective you can also see by the way the presented the two phones is indicative of what they (Samsung) are trying to say about the two phones. The Galaxy S III is shown quite clearly with the screen switched on whereas the iPhone 5's screen is turned off and its more in the background. The iPhone doesn't stand out and is clearly in the shade of the Samsung the way they have been juxtaposed. I personally dislike this ad not because of design but because I feel that this is 'dirty' advertisement and a cheap shot at Apple. From a marketing viewpoint this could be putting Samsung in a negative way with Samsung promoting a rival device indirectly. Even though the overall message is that the Galaxy SIII is much better than the iPhone 5 it is still promoting the other device nevertheless by it being shown in the advert. This advert is also very subjective by intentionally leaving out some features for the iPhone 5 so the Samsung phone is shown to be better in almost every way, in reality both phones do things that the other can't, for example this ad purposely fails to mention that the iphone has a larger app store than the Android based counterpart (of which the Samsung is using). All in all, I think Samsung could have promoted thier phone without the inclusion of a rival product while still making a point of it being the best smatphone on the market. 

Lego and the Olympics

Source - http://www.fastcocreate.com/1681309/the-12-best-ads-of-the-2012-olympics

Really fun ad campaign. Lego promoting team GB in the London Olyimpics. A play of words in "Great building, Great Britain". The lego athletes shown are all supporting gold medals promoting team GB in a positive way.


Source - http://www.fastcocreate.com/1681309/the-12-best-ads-of-the-2012-olympics

Awesome posters!

source - http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/absolut-network-forma-and-co

Incredible posters produced by design firm Forma & Co, founded by Joel Lozano and Dani Navarro.

source - http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/absolut-network-forma-and-co

I really like the simplicity of these posters. The design is clean and well presented. The colour contrast is good and it makes the design/text really stand out. I'm quite fond of the bright bold colours used in the posters. Although I don't understand Spanish the design language is universal and anything this good deserves a mention in my blog!

source - http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/absolut-network-forma-and-co

Google wonderland..

Source - http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/connie-zhou-where-the-internet-lives

Amazing photography by Connie Zhou of Google's data centres. When I think of data centres or rather server farms as they are called commonly, I think of huge black and grey towers that seem to run along a dull floor that never ends. Google's farms arn't much different to any other server farm or data centre from any other big computing firms in terms of scale and size but, and a big BUT is that its so much more colourful and playful. The above photograph perfectly encapsulates all the colours of the google's logo. There's a splash of red, green, blue and yellow. The facility itself resembles or reminds me of anyway Willy Wonka's chocoloate factory from the movies, with its bright and vibrant colours. The bike is a nice touch too and only furthers the sense that the place is a fun loving and playful (of which the photograph is indicative of anyway). I also really like the overall composition of the photo, and the blend of colours it shows with the pipes and wires all seemingly intertwined with each other.

Source - http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/connie-zhou-where-the-internet-lives

Another photograph inside of Google's Data centre, though less colourful this photograph gives a sense of depth and perspectice with the way its been shot in an angle. Its almost like looking down a really long tunnel, a brightly lit one at that funnily enough.

Source - http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/connie-zhou-where-the-internet-lives

Again a great sense of depth and vision, this time looking up. It seems as if its never ending, really showing us how big/tall these data centres really are.

MAD



 

This is the work of design collective 'Pentagram', (this particular project was headed by Michael Beirut). The above image is the typeface or logo for the Museum of Arts and Design in New York. 'MAD' is an acronym for the museum name.

 



Pentagram were approached by the Museum to give them a new identity and image. They created the 'MAD' typface that is associated with the museum. The typeface is based on the idea of every letter in the alphabet being made up of purely a combination of 2 shapes, cirles and squares. This resulted, in my opinion, a very strange and unique design. The letters were very obscure and hard to read, characteristics that are not desirable when creating a typeface in a technical point of view, but because of this fact it did draw my attention to it. The typeface itself has a very urban modern finish to it while being totally unique and unlike anything else. The acronym 'MAD' for the museum also fits the characteristics of the typeface as its outlandish and alien. It stands out from any other typeface I've ever seen. I think that the mood and the sense of uniqueness that the typeface gave acomplished Pentagrams goal of creating a new identity for the museum while grabbing people's attention with the very distinctive style and design.

Some 'MAD' lettering on a New York bus.

Leaflets and booklets created for the Museum of Arts and Design.

All images from - http://new.pentagram.com/2008/09/new-work-museum-of-arts-and-de/

CMYK



Bold, minimalistic.


source - http://find-the-in-between.deviantart.com/art/CMYK-Wallpaper-174851271?qj=1&q=favby%3Atorado%2F8514350&qo=302



Green pizza anyone?

Source - http://10steps.sg/inspirations/artworks/44-advertising-posters-with-clever-ideas/

To be quite frank I think the basic idea is slightly cliched, having a household appliance manufacturer (a company named Whirlpool in this case) have a slice of green land cut into a shape to represent a product quite boring (Slice of pizza for the microwave, t-shirt for washing machine *yawn*). I think the creatives behind the adverts could have portrayed the same message of environmentally friendly products in a more unique way, maybe have something like a a plant on top of the appliances, indicating that appliances give life to plantlife, suggesting the products a good for the environment!


Source - http://10steps.sg/inspirations/artworks/44-advertising-posters-with-clever-ideas/

Despite my criticism towards the ads, there is one thing it does well, it communicates the messege of environmentally friendly "green" products very well and clearly. The idea though cliched is easy to follow and 'get' to put it blunt. A green field cut into a shape of t-shirt does the job if conveying the message well at the same time linking it with the product (t-shirt for washing machine, pizza slice for microwave).

Now that's real HORSEPOWER!



Source - http://inspirationfeed.com/photography/45-visionary-examples-of-creative-photography-11/



Nature meets Machine. The synergy between the horse and the motorcyle is great. I like how the horse just flows into and merges with the mechanical parts, it doesn't seem forced together. The sense of speed is within the image is subtly created with the use of soft blurs, note how the bike wheel seem to be spinning fast and the horse legs to be moving, very effective. I also like the attention to detail, both the horse half and the bike half is black and the highlights red, strengthening the link between the horse and the motorcyle.

"One simple miss can make one big mess"

Honda advertising thier new "compact navigation systems" in cars. Fresh, humorous and effective.



Source - http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/print/2009/6/honda_gps_mouse.jpg





 

Pay for a cookie with a SMILE??!?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-cRXRxepsKo

http://www.creativeguerrillamarketing.com/guerrilla-marketing/project-change-pay-for-a-cookie-with-a-smile/

This is "Project Change" an advertising campaign made for EURO RSCG Australia (that is a worlwide marketing agency based in Australia) who were going through a rebranding phase (they are now known as Havas Worldwide). So anyway, the idea of Project Change was to bring about some positivity in people in Austrailia who commute to work. The team at Havas found that 97% of Australians are unhappy commuting. After some headscratching they decided that the best way to change the average commuter's moods were to give away free (more or less) cookies to anyone who has the ability to smile! Yes SMILE!

http://www.creativeguerrillamarketing.com/guerrilla-marketing/project-change-pay-for-a-cookie-with-a-smile/

They started off by baking several hundred cookies and then going around in an old ford mustang in the streets of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, “selling” the cookies for smile, crazy right?

I think this concept is cool as its is a very unique way of promotingt a brand that has just had an identity change. The simple idea of giving away cookies for practically free to promote a brand seems a bit unorthodox but it brought about some happiness to the people commuting to work and a positive association with the brand, definitly some good exposure. Now if only I could "buy" some cookies with a smile on my way to uni everyday...